What's New
| Presdent Obama Donated $250,000 of Nobel Prize Money to Fisher House |
March 11, 2010, Washington, DC (New York Times) - President Obama made good on his promise to give his $1.4 million Nobel Prize money to charity, releasing the names on Thursday of the organizations that will benefit. |
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| Dr. Haley at UTSW Presents Compelling Brain Images Showing Gulf War Illness |
VCS Asks VA: Since UTSW Research Remains Vital to Understanding Gulf War Illness, Then Why Did a Handful of VA Staff in Washington Impede UTSW Contract and Then End Funding for UTSW? March 9, 2010, Salt Lake City, Utah (Science News) - Nearly two decades after vets began returning from the Middle East complaining of Gulf War Syndrome, the federal government has yet to formally accept that their vague jumble of symptoms constitutes a legitimate illness. Here, at the Society of Toxicology annual meeting, yesterday, researchers rolled out a host of brain images – various types of magnetic-resonance scans and brain-wave measurements – that they say graphically and unambiguously depict Gulf War Syndrome. |
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| March 9 VCS Weekly Update |
This week’s VCS update keeps you in the loop with news on issues you care about. One good change – our weekly news updates won’t ask you for money. Instead, our news updates point you to news articles at our web site. We hope you will read them and share the important facts with your friends. This week's update includes news about VA and suicides, VCS on CNN, our VCS FOIA campaign, VA automating Agent Orange claims, a waterboarding torture video, and Gulf War veterans' benefits. |
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| Federal Court Keeps Torture Lawsuit Against Rumsfeld Alive |
What's Waterboarding? Watch Video of Torture March 5, 2010, Chicago, Illinois (Associated Press) - A federal judge refused Friday to dismiss a civil lawsuit accusing former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld of responsibility for the alleged torture by U.S. forces of two Americans who worked for an Iraqi contracting firm. [Rumsfeld served at the Pentagon under former President George W. Bush.] |
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| Reducing Suicides: VA Adopts Policy on Emergency Care for Mental Health Patients |
This Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Directive provides policy to ensure the provision of safe and secure mental health services during all hours of operation for Emergency Departments (EDs) and Urgent Care Clinics (UCCs) in VHA |
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Veteran Attempts Self-Immolation at VA Hospital in Missouri
Written by Michelle Friedrich
Friday, 29 January 2010 21:34
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Man Sets Self on Fire Outside Poplar Bluff VA Medical Center January 29, 2010, Poplar Bluff, Missouri (Daily American Republic) - Authorities believe a patient of the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center attempted to commit suicide Thursday afternoon on the hospital's property by lighting himself on fire with gasoline. The 52-year-old Poplar Bluff veteran was flown to St. John's Mercy Medical Center just before 5 p.m. after initially being treated at Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. The man, according to hospital personnel, is a patient in the burn unit at the St. Louis hospital and is listed in critical condition. The Poplar Bluff Police Department was notified at 3:02 p.m. of an "individual who was dousing himself in gas," explained Deputy Police Chief Jeff Rolland. "Naturally, we dispatched officers to the VA property. "As soon as the responding officers arrived, he ignited himself. They immediately extinguished him and requested (emergency medical services personnel) to transport him" to the hospital. As the man was being treated, officers began their investigation. The incident, Rolland said, happened on the northwest portion of the VA property. From all indications, Rolland said, it appeared to be a suicide attempt although no note has been "uncovered at this time." It is unknown at this time whether the man had been seen at the VA Thursday, Rolland said. "We don't know why," he said. The man's "motivation at this point is speculation; we have no clue as to his path of motivation," said Capt. Mike Elliott. "We are satisfied he had no outside (help); it was self inflicted." |